Sustainable Agriculture

Achieving a more sustainable way of growing crops has been clearly identified as one of next decade’s priorities by the European Commission in the Farm to Fork Strategy and Biodiversity Strategy, both following the publication of the overarching European Green Deal at the end of 2019.

In the EU, more than 10% of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are attributable to agriculture.
Conservation agriculture is a farming practice that delivers increased sustainability while maintaining crop safety and productivity, therefore contributing to food security.

Glyphosate, as part of the toolbox for Integrated Weed Management (IWM), plays a very important role in the implementation of the three founding principles of conservation agriculture:

•     minimum tillage and soil disturbance
•     permanent soil cover with crop residues and live mulches
•     crop rotation and intercropping

As acknowledged by the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), conservation agriculture “enhances biodiversity and natural biological processes above and below the ground surface, which contribute to increased water and nutrient use efficiency and to improved and sustained crop production”.

Conservation agriculture is the basis of a future sustainable food system.